Fireproof fiber and method of making same.



' or impregnated with soft or bustible, materials T 0 all whom it may concern:

LKARL P. MCELROY, OF WASHINGTON,

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND CARLETON ELLIS, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS TO FIREPROOF PRODUCTS COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April 20, 1905.

FIREPROQF FIBER AND METHOD OF MAKING seam.

Patented March a, lace.

Serial No. 256,676.

Be it known that we, KARL P. MoELno'Y and CARLETON ELLrs, citizens of the United. States, residing, respectively, in Washington, District of Columbia,and New York, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and valuable Improvements in Fireproof Fibers and Methods of Making the Same, whereof the following is a specificacation.

Thisinvention relates to fibers saturated fluent, incominsoluble in water, and to the process of so saturating or impregnating them, all as more nearly set forth hereinafter, particular points of novelty being distinctly set forth in the appended claims.

No organic material can be made fireproof in the strictest sense of that term, organic materials will decompose and char when heated sufficiently high; but they can be made fiameproof Or'fiame resisting; t. 0., so that they will neither ignite on contact with a flame nor themselves emit flame when heated for a moderate length of time. This is the commercial sense of the word fireproof and the one employed hereinafter.

Many methods have been proposed for fireproofing fibers, animal and vegetable. Those depending on the .deposition of insoluble mineral materials in the pores, as in ecomposition products,

the treatment of wood with successive solutions of soluble silicates and mineral salts, have proved of little avail for fireproofing, the mineral matteroften really aiding coinbustion by holding open assageways for ases and air against natura sealing by tarry or fusible ash-ingredients. Fibers so treated have further the defect of harshness, brittlenessand inelasticity, the mineral matters preventing the free gliding of the fibers over one another which is necessary .to perserve the original character of the fiber as regards elasticity and strength. Such fibers are often also detrimental to the, edge of cutting tools. Other methods depending on the saturation with .off fiame;dil uting and flame-'s'tifling vapors, likealumand the ammonia salts, fireproof fairly well but where such salts are not 'deliquescent and therefore: exist in the" wood, etc., in the solid form the fibers s'o treated suffer from the same inechanical defects as fibers containing the insoluble mineral matters hereinbefore mentioned. crystals, in the pores of fibers is eminentiy undesirable from a mechanical point of view. Fireproofing with deliquescent saits, like zinc chlorid, accomplishes that end alone I very well since these bodies hold enough i Water to shield the fiber from theeffects of heat for some time. But these salts as well as all other soluble salts have provedvery undesirable in practice since they will readil wash out in exposed situations like dec 1 planking, or on such floors as are frequently scrubbed. Furthermore, they have the del fect of readily taking up or giving off water, keeping in hygrornetric balance with the state of the atmosphere, thereby making woodwork, for example, fireproofedby their since all i aid, apt to check and warp. Paneling so of fibers with fluent, water insoluble, normally non-volatile materials of a stable and incombustible nature, which while making such fibers fireproof, do not render them either harsh or hygroscopic. The fluent character of the substance used, which may be oily, waxy or soft within the purview of our invention, permits the individual fibers to slide on each other; lubricates them in fact; and prevents any the product. Instead of deteriorating the fiber, our substances really increase its strength and value, acting like the wax'of waxed thread. Being insoluble in water, the substances are not affected by the hygrbIhetric condition of the atmosphere; are no susceptibleof being washed out; neither do they tend to wander from one portion of a tissue to another, and accumulating in another, as is oftenithe case with the zinc chlorid type of fireproofers. Woodworkfireproofed according toour invention does not check or warp; neither does it 1 make apartments damp.' Fiber impregnated with'our insoluble substances is of course also waterproof. Preferably a fluent, combustible substance is used w h is also capale of evolving fiame-stifli-ng v ors i when heated, there'y diluting the com s- Hard mineral matter such as harshness or brittleness of p I "tothehig'hha '65 'stiflin deco'm osition with bar to t e char-ring point of the latter. N he. uninflammability tlveand increases directly with the percent.-

4 tible deeom osition productsof wood, etc., beyond the aming point.

As suitable tion .is' regarded any insoluble stable, non- 5 volatile fluent substance, be it either waxy or li uid, which is also insoluble in waterand unin ammable and isnon-volatile at normal temperatures. As particularly adapted have 1'0 of organic radicals, and especially those of the aromatic radicals. Those of theparaflin radicals are less well suited, being less stable. Duly the higher members of the paraffin series .give halogenated derivatives of the desired consistency and these, when containing useful percentages of-halo'gen, tend to break down readily into simpler compounds. Preferably v .the chlorin products are used because of their cheapness, although where price is not an object, the bromin'and iodin products may also be used. I As they contain a larger ercentage of the'uninflammable halogen t an the corresponding chlorin compounds, they are even more desirable wherenot too costly. I Halogen derivatives of naphthalene and anthracene, because of their cheapness, stability and general fluent nature are well suited to the purposes of this invention. Halogen ated derivatives mayof course contain two or morehalogens in the same molecule, as with ehlorobromnaphthalenes. Oily ami-ns maialso'beused, as well as their compounds wit inorganic acids, in so far as these are Ifluent an insoluble in their nature. Halo- '35 genated 'amins, as for instance, chlorona hthala iin, areparticularly useful since tiey T'e'volve ammoniacal vapors as well as hal0 genated vapors on being heated, both having a flame-stifling property. Many organic 40 bodies, as the d mg and undrying fat oils, add halo en by irect combination, forming bodies w 'ch, when stable, are useful for our purpose. Wood oil, for instance, directly adds iodin, chlorin and bromin, forming soft 46 bodiesisiwhich we have found incombustible,

and w 'eh may be used alone or in admixture 'with other substances herein specified.

. inseed oil behaves in a similar way. As-

' phalt, asphalt oils and dead oil may also be 50 usefully chlorinated, etc. I I

' T ere are very many halogenated naphthalene "and antbracene products described, all I being more or less suitable, being soft in con:- sistency, uninflammable, and emitting flameproducts when heated is of course comparaogena ed bodies, as for instance -perchlorona hthalene, 501,. The hexachlorona ht alene, though 11 .combustl 16 as the higher hom amply so for practical pur oses. is a true wax in its physiea characters and it age of Halogen present, being greatest with es, is

for the purposesof thisinveneenfound the chlorin substitution products g This forms a dry uite so in- This body I can be molded between the fingers is insoluble 5' in water; is stable at common term eratures and emits flamestifling vapors of ch orinated products when brought mto contact with flame or with bodies at a red heat.

Any fiber or fibrous body may be treated with thedeseribed substanceszfwood, cloth,

thread or rope, leather, paperfscenery, in-

sulations, etc. By impregnating hide with these waxy and oily bodies, a true tawed leather which is also flame proof may be I readily obtained.

, in fireproo'fing with these halogenated l bodies, they'can be directly applied to wood 5 in position, as in floors, pane ing, furniture, s0

etc, asany other oil or wax is applied; or

f they may be dissolved in an appropriate j solvent, the fiber saturated wit '1 the. solution,

% and the solvent distilled off. Using hexachloronaphthalene,it maybe simply softened f or liquefied by heat and worked into the pores of the wood' ete with brushes and similar tools.- As it cools, it formsa surface impregnation whichprevents adjacent tissue from beingreachedby flame. By drying andheating the wood, etc. a com )letesaturation may .of course-be attained w lere such is deemed f desirable. Bodies which have been melted f or softened by heat and then again solidified f are not porousjas in the ease with all films deposited from solutions, andthe-refore when a surface is in'ipregnated Withhexachloronaphthalene, or a similar body, in the manner described, it closes all the poresof wood,

f etc., completely; seals -it hermetically. Such being the case, where cheapness of treatment I is an object, wood, etc, may first be satu rated withwa/ter, or a watery fireproofer,

g'su'ch as a solution of zinc ehlorid,'ammo i niumphosphate, ete., andthen sharply dried.

surface layerand a wet inj-terior, andsaid surface layer may then be impregnated with one of aforesaid fluent,-

insoluble fireproofers, particularly with the hexachloronaphthalene, thereby forming a hermetic surface sealing which com letelyincloses and protects such aqueousfil'eproofer from evaporation or hygrometrie change.

l-nlfirep'roofing cloth, ladies dresses, etc,

the fluent fireproofers of this invention may be usefully employed inlieu of paraffin in the ordinary sizing compositions, thereby rendering' the cloth uninflamm'able without render ing it harsh.

separating the chemically pure bodies. pro erly -conducting the chlorination pily 0 ms can be obtained, but we prefer toform Such mixtures of chlorinated bodies may be formedb exposing We hot to. the action of c orln gas, 130 l i the Waxy derivatives.

In practice, in usingthe naphthalene de- 1'20 nearly asmayibe the hexachloro derivation, to save the tedious and unprofitable labor B.

' bodies, sufficient y nation being carried on till a body of the desired Waxy consistence and flame resisting properties is obtained Another and desirab method of Obtaining these bodies is described and claimed in our co-pending application Ser. No. 295,730, filed Jan. ,12, 1906, such method consisting essentially in chlorinating with electrolytic in using naphthalene bodies we'carry on the chlorination nearly or quite to the point of forming the hexachlorid, such hexachlorid having desirable properties, as stated, and being more flame roof than lower halogenated so to obviate any advantage in forming the hepta and.octo chlorids, both bodies of less desirable mechanical properties. Additive chlorin derivatives of naphthalene may also be employed where the presence of more loosely bound chlorin is not detrimental.

What we claim and desire to secure by Patent of the United States is: 1. Fiber impregnated and fireproofed with J an incombustible, water-insoluble, stable,

normally non-volatile, fluent substance, substantially as described.

I 2. Fiber im an incombustl le, water-insolub e waxy substance, substantially as described.

I fireproofed Wit '1 non-volatile, stable,

- normally non-volatile 7. Fiber impre nated 3. Fiber su erficially impre nated and an incombustib e, normally water-insoluble, fluent substancegsubstantially as described.

4. A mass of fiber superficially impregnated with an incombustible, water-insoluble material and interiorly impregnated with a watery fireproofer, substantially as described. I I

5. Fiber impregnated with stable, fluent, I halogen derivatives of. organic bodies, substantiall as described;

6. Fiber impregnated an fire roofed with a halo en derivative of naplit alene, substantia ly as described. a

and fireproofed with i chlorinated napht alene, substantially as described. 1

8. Fiber impregnated and-fireproofed with heir tglilornaphthalene, substantially'as descn 9. The process of .sists in reducing a soakin halogen. Preferably however,

regnated and fireproofed with consists in" melting fluent, water-insoluble incombustible material toa liquid form and said fiber therewith.

10. he process of fireproofing fiber which consists in impregnating amass of fiber with a watery fireproofer, harply dryingthe surface and then impregnating said surface with an incombustible, water-insoluble material, whereby said water fireproofer is hermetically sealed within t e interior, as described. V

1 1. The process of treating fiber which consists in reducin a fluent normally nonvolatile, water-inso uble'and stable halogen derivative of organic materials'toa liquid form and soaking' it into said fiber.

12. The process of treating fiber which consists in soaking into'the surfaces of said fiber a halogen derivative of naphthalene in fluid form. r

13. The process of treating fiber which consists in soakin into. the surfaces of said fiber a chlornapht alenein fluid form.

14. The process 'of treatingjfiber, which consists in converting hexachlornaphthalene into a fluid; form and soaking said fiber. therewith. 1

15. The process of fireproo fiber which consists in impregnating said. her with an incombustible water-insoluble, stable, fluent, normally non-volatile material.

16. The process of fireproofing fiber-which rivative of naphthalene eat and work treating fiber which consubstantially consists infurther softerlijng'la halogen dey ing it into the pores of saidfiber while "hot. 17. The process of fir'eproofing wood which exachlornaphthalene and working it into the pores of the. wood.

18. The process of fireproofin consists in impregnating such her with an be I fiber which i incombustible, water-insoluble, fluent, chichexachlornaphthalene;

In testimony whereof" we aflix our signatures, in presenceof 'two subscribing wit- I ,rination product of naphthalene oontaining 

